Grave vault



`1an. 30, 1940. F. BlszANTz 2,188,525

GRAVE VAULT Filed Jan. 27, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 lru/znkcv' FRED Bmamz 18 l H t tarnqy.:

F. BISZANTZ Jan. 30, 1940.

GRAVE VAULT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ed Jan. 27, 1939 Irv/antw' mznNTz av e H tlornays Patented Jan. 30, 1940 ED? STATES PATENT orties GRAVE VAUIJT corporation of Ohio Application January 27, 1939, Serial No. 253,099

6 Claims.

This invention relates to grave vaults, and in particulai` to the baseof a grave vault.

It is the object of this invention to provide a grave vault base that provides a solid, rigid foundation plate preventing embedding in the soil.

air passes into the vault cover. when water rising in thegrave forces air out of the chamber in the base.

Itis an object to provide means of keeping'the casket dry above the water line, even though the grave lls with water surrounding .thevault It-is an object tolprovide a` foundation or base y plate, witha spaced upper platform whichis reinforced. and supported. by arch members so as to permit the foundation plate to be .made of a plurality of spaced strips, rather than a continuous plate. Y

It is a further object to provide an air chamber in the base, the side. walls of which are adapted to. support the locking mechanism for retaining the vault cover. forming the dome on the foundation plate or base.

It is an object to provide means of. supporting the casket load on top of a unitary base having an air chamber therein so as to maintain the casket above the water line.

Referring to the drawings:

BolV Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through the improved grave vault of this invention showing a casket in elevation.

Figure 2 is a similar View showing the bottom portion of the grave Vault in a modified form.

AFigur-e 3 is a top plan view of the grave vault base with the upper wall broken away to show the foundation platewith an enlarged rectangular opening and to show the ends of the reinforcing arches.

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4 4, looking in the direction of the arrows,.of Figure l showing in elevation one of the reinforcing' arches..

Figure 5 isa detail enlarged view showing` a portion of the air chamber and one of the arches 45, in section, illustrating how they engage, This section was taken on the line 5 5 of Figure 4,

looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 6 is a bottom plan View of a modified form of a foundation or base plate showing two 5u. base plate portions at either end of the bottom of the vault.

Figure 7 is a similar view showing one or more spaced intermediate transverse plates.

Figure 8 isa similar view showing spaced lon- 55. gtudinally arranged reinforcing plates.

It is. an object to provide ventsthrough which Figure 9 is a detailed View of the locking mechanism shown in Figure 10. This is an outside elevation of the locking mechanism.

Figure 10 is a section through the grave vault base plate air chamber and dome showing the arrangement of the locking mechanism in locking, position.

Figure 11 isa section on the line II-l I, looking in the direction of the arrows on Figure 6, showing a unitary base construction comprising transverse reinforcingarch members.

One of. the important features of this invention is to eliminate the narrow base rim which cuts into the supporting earth. At the same time,- the casket must be adequately supported on the hollow base and' there must be adequate vents through which the air. can pass from the air chamber in the upper part of the base into the cover or dome,.thereby adding to the air volume inside. the cover increasing the resistance to the entrance of water into the vault. f

Referringto the drawings in detail, the foundation or basepl'ate may consist of a single piece, as shown in Figures l' to 4, consistingV of transverse end members lv and 2, andv longitudinal` side members 3 and'4, with an enlarged opening 5 in thecenter. y

Between the end plates l and 2 and the base cover 6 are mounted arch shaped reinforcing members or bars 1, the feet of which, as at 8, rest upon the inside of the transverse members I and' 2 of the base plate.

The arch shaped members, (which are prefer ably inverted U-shaped members in cross section) engagethe underside of the cover or platform 6 andthereby take the load of the casket 9', which rests upon the cover and distribute that load laterally towards the sides of the base plates I and 2. In one form, these arches engage within the ribs I0 formedjin. the dome. It is upon these ribs that the casket rests. The holes lila in the arch shaped formation of the rib 'l provide communications between the space in the base and that in the. dome when the dome is in place on the base, whereby water rising in the base may'have access'to the interior of the dome to take advantage of the volumetric displacement in the dome as well as in the base. The ribsv I0 also containthe vent holes ma', as shown in Figures 3' and 4.

The side walls of the basefcover, designated il, pivotally support the locking fingers I2, the inner ends of which ati3 are inserted through the slot Illvv in the side wall lli of the cover 6.

Thespring |-5 tends to move the locking member I2 into locking position. Operating pitmans I6 are pivotally connected to the skirts I1 of the locking member I2 so as to retract the locking member. These pitmans are connected together in a. suitable manner and are operated from a common lever I8, which projects beyond the wall II.

This lever is preferably pivoted upon the base or foundation plate, but may be pivotally supported in any manner.

The opening 5 is surrounded with a flange 5a, while the margin of the base plate is provided with an up turned flange I9. It is upon this flange that the hood 2B forming the dome of the vault rests. The flange 2| of this hood is engaged by the locking member I2.

There are a variety of possible ways in whichv the principle of this invention can be applied. For instance, in Figure 6, end plates la and 2a may be used which are directly connected to the bottom of the hollow unitary base member as by welding or other means.

In Figure 7 additional transverse spaced plate members 22 and 23 have been added.

In Figure 8 there are oppositely spaced longitudinal reinforcing plates 21 and 28 with a space 29 therebetween and plates 24 and 25 transversely disposed at either end for the purpose of supporting the locking mechanism.

When forms are used, such as are shown in Figures 6, 7, 8 and 11, the dome is provided at the bottom of its side walls II With upwardly turned flanges 30 for resting the bottom flange 2I of the top or hood 20 of the vault. It is to this flanged portion 30, on the bottom of the flanged portion, that the plates Ia, 2a, 22, 23 or 21 and 28 are suitably attached as by welding.

With reference to the support 1, it will be understood that the principle is to provide a support of any character between the thin cover sheet of the platform and the relatively heavy body foundation or base plate. There are a great many different forms for this support, but I desire to comprehend within my invention the broad principle of being able to utilize less than a complete base or foundation plate, preferably of relatively heavy material and of sufficient size to prevent the casket and vault from sinking into the ground and utilizing relatively light material for the casket supporting dome. I desire to accomplish this by having intermediate a support of such character as to be able to accomplish this result.

For instance, in Figure 8, the support 1 has its feet 8 resting at either end on the longitudinal plates 21 and 28 serving to apply the load on those plates whereby they rest upon the ground while bridging the gap 29.

This results in considerable economy of metal, as well as in the advantages set forth in this specification.

Likewise in Figure 7, such arches can extend, if desired, as indicated, bridging the spaces 24, 25 and 26, and interconnecting the transverse foundation or base plates of relatively heavy material while providing a very rigid support for the underside of the base cover or platform 6, which carries the weight of the casket. I have not endeavored to illustrate all of the possible ways by which the principles of this invention may be applied, but the foregoing will be sufcient to indicate these things which characterize this invention, wholly or in part: a base of sufficient strength and size with adequate surface area to prevent the base rim from cutting into the supporting earth and to prevent the casket and vault from tilting or sinking unevenly.

The hollow base of relatively thin material adequately supports the casket above the water line while at the same time, despite its lighter construction, it is not only adequately supported by the intermediate supports, but these supports also serve to distribute the load of the casket into the base plates, which constitute the pressure areas engaging with the soft ground. These supports also serve to tie the base or foundation plates together to form a more rigid structure. The dome furnishes adequate support and housing for the locking mechanism and an enclosure for the intermediate supports. The reinforcing ribs in the hollow base serve not only as casket supports but as a positioning means for the upper base cover member with reference to the base plate or plates.

In the form shown in Figures 6, 7, 8 and 11, it is particularly apparent that the plates serve as tie rods for holding the bottom of the base structure together. This resists the tendency of the platform forming the upper wall of the hollow base to collapse and have its side walls spread laterally under the weight of the casket. Indeed, it is possible with certain types of construction to eliminate the intermediate support usual with this type of construction, but such supports have been shown as used with this type of construction to illustrate the full possibilities of the invention.

It will be understood that I desire to comprehend Within my invention such modications as may be necessary to adapt it to varying conditions and uses.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A vault base construction comprising a base plate, a vault supporting plate having a portion thereof resting upon said base plate and permanently attached thereto and providing an air space between said base plate and said supporting plate, said supporting plate having at least one reinforcing rib therein, and a reinforcing arch shaped bar attached to said base plate and contacting said rib thereby transmitting at least a portion of the weight of the casket carried on said supporting plate to said base plate whereby the weight of the casket and vault carried thereby is distributed over a substantial ground-engaging area.

2. A vault base construction comprising a base plate, a vault supporting plate having a portion thereof resting upon said base plate and permanently attached thereto, and another portion spaced from said base plate and providing an air space between the same and said supporting plate, said supporting plate havingat least one reinforcing rib therein, said rib having an upper convex portion forming a support for a casket, and an under concave portion, and a reinforcing arch shaped bar attached tosaid base plate and contacting the concave portion of said rib, thereby transmitting at least a portion of the weight of the casket carried on said supporting plate reinforcing member to said base plate, whereby the weight of the casket and vault carried thereby is distributed over a substantial ground-engaging area.

3. A vault base construction comprising a base plate, a vault supporting plate having a portion thereof resting upon said base plate and per- Cil.

manently attached thereto, and another portion spaced from said base plate to form an air chamber between said base plate and said supporting plate, said supporting plate having at least one reinforcing rib` therein, and a reinforcing arch shaped bar attached to said base plate and contacting said rib thereby transmitting at least a portion of the weight of the casket carried on said supporting plate to said base plate whereby the Weight of the casket and vault carried thereby is distributed over a substantial ground-engaging area.

4. A vault base construction comprising a base plate, a vault supporting plate having a portion thereof resting upon said base plate and permanently attached thereto and another portion spaced from said base plate to form an air space between the base plate and the supporting plate, said supporting plate having a plurality of transversely extending reinforcing ribs, each rib being provided with a concave lower portion and a con- Vex upper portion, and an arch shaped reinforcing member for each rib having the bases of the arch resting on said base plate and the upper part of each of said arches located in the concave portion of each of said reinforcing ribs, thereby transmitting at least a portion of the weight of the casket carried on said supporting plate to said base plate, whereby the weight of the casket and vault carried thereby is distributedover a substantial ground-engaging area.

5. A vault base' construction comprising a base plate', a vault supporting plate having a portion thereof resting upon said base plate and permanently attached thereto and providing an air space between said base plate and said supporting plate, said supporting plate having at least one n reinforcing rib therein, and a reinforcing member of inverted U shape in transverse cross section attached to said base plate and contacting said rib thereby transmitting at least a portion of the Weight of the casket carried on said supporting plate to said base plate, kwhereby the weight of the casket and vault carried thereby is distributed over a substantial ground-engaging area, said base plate having at least one aperture therein communicating with the space between the base plate and the supporting plate.

6. A vault base construction comprising a base plate, a vault supporting plate having a portion thereof resting upon said base plate and permanently attached thereto and providing an air space between said base plate and said supporting plate, said supporting plate having at least one aperture therein, both apertures communicating with the space between the base plate and the supporting plate.

`\ FRED BISZANTZ. 

